Some Los Altos bicyclists are worried their voices will be lost if the city council decides to do away with a committee that represents them.

The city council will hold a meeting with the Traffic Commission, which handles general transportation issues, on Jan. 11 to discuss the future of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. One proposal being considered is to disband the group and assign its duties to the Traffic Commission.

The bicycle committee, made up of six residents, reports to the Traffic Commission, which then reports to the city council.

The idea of possibility of dumping the bicycle committee first came up at a Dec. 14 council meeting. An agenda released before the meeting noted the council would talk about the group, “including consideration of consolidating the (the committee’s) responsibilities into the Traffic Commission and disbanding (the committee).”

In response, local bicyclists and residents sent a flurry of concerned e-mails to council members. Some people came to the Dec. 14 meeting to protest in person. Many said bicyclists’ needs are specialized and shouldn’t be handled by traffic commissioners who may be more focused on cars.

“I feel like the people (on the committee) are very passionate about cycling and aware of what our town needs,” one woman said, urging the council not to disband it. “Those voices need to be heard.”

Council members agreed at the December meeting to discuss the matter with the Traffic Commission in January. They also said they intend to meet with the bicycle committee Feb. 8.

While disbanding the committee is an option, council members said it’s not the only one. They emphasized that the goal is to make the city’s advocacy for bicyclists and pedestrians more effective, not less.

“At the end of the day the intent is to make sure that we get the best advice we can on bicycle and pedestrian safety, as well as how that interacts with traffic,” Council Member Megan Satterlee said at the meeting.

Mayor Pro Tem Val Carpenter told The Daily News there are a variety of options. The city could fold the committee into an expanded Traffic Commission, reduce the number of members on the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, or give the committee more power by allowing it to report directly to the city council.

“It’s really a question of how best to serve (bicyclists and pedestrians), and that may be the current structure, or it may be some different structure,” Carpenter said.

The council’s Personnel Committee, which includes Carpenter, was looking at the structures of other commissions and committees when it decided to re-evaluate the bicycle committee’s role. Carpenter said she finds it “troubling” that no one has applied for a seventh seat on the committee which has been vacant for six months.

Committee member Randy Rhody said he was “blindsided” by the news that the city was considering disbanding the group. Rhody said he doesn’t think that will ultimately happen, but is concerned “there’s a whole disconnect with regard to bicycling between the community and the city council.”

Rhody, who has been on the committee for more than five years, said many of the committee’s ideas, such as adding or improving bike lanes in recent streetscape plans, are simply “dismissed” by the council.

“We all need our cars, but sometimes we just like to have a choice and I feel like Los Altos has been the most unprogressive in giving people a choice,” he said. “I think their attitude to bicyclists is, ‘Go ahead, if you want to bicycle be my guest … but we’re not going to make it easy for you. We’d prefer you to stay in your car.'”

Otto Warmbier was arrested in January 2016 at the end of a brief tourist visit to North Korea. He had been medically evacuated and was being treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center when he died at age 22.